It’s time for the Wimpy Kid machine to grind to a halt
Greg Heffley, that most profoundly unlikable of antiheroes, is back with another litany of complaints.
The book opens with a lengthy lampoon of the efforts of overeager parents to produce genius children (completely fruitless, as Greg’s post-utero experience clearly demonstrates) and ends with an enormously unpleasant Valentine’s Day dance. In between, Greg schemes for the upper hand, as always. The recession brings a cautionary example to the household in the person of his loser uncle Gary, who crashes on the couch while recouping losses from the purchase of cartons of misspelled souvenir “Botson” T-shirts. Oh, the irony: Though Greg recognizes his uncle as a creepy jerk, he does not see in Gary his inevitable future self. Will readers? Seven books into the series, one would expect to see some growth in Greg’s character, but no. He's as self-serving and manipulative as ever, possibly even more so, and by this point, there are few laughs left to mine. One’s left wondering, what is the enduring appeal? Given that Kinney’s oeuvre has spawned an entire subgenre (though he did not originate it—Marissa Moss' Amelia’s Notebook and its sequels combined faux-handwritten journals with drawings beginning in 1995), it's mystifying that kids are not flocking to the many alternatives now available.
It’s time for the Wimpy Kid machine to grind to a halt . (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0584-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2012
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
A real gem.
A 10-year old girl learns to adjust to a strange town, makes some fascinating friends, and fills the empty space in her heart thanks to a big old stray dog in this lyrical, moving, and enchanting book by a fresh new voice.
India Opal’s mama left when she was only three, and her father, “the preacher,” is absorbed in his own loss and in the work of his new ministry at the Open-Arms Baptist Church of Naomi [Florida]. Enter Winn-Dixie, a dog who “looked like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain.” But, this dog had a grin “so big that it made him sneeze.” And, as Opal says, “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets Miss Franny Block, an elderly lady whose papa built her a library of her own when she was just a little girl and she’s been the librarian ever since. Then, there’s nearly blind Gloria Dump, who hangs the empty bottle wreckage of her past from the mistake tree in her back yard. And, Otis, oh yes, Otis, whose music charms the gerbils, rabbits, snakes and lizards he’s let out of their cages in the pet store. Brush strokes of magical realism elevate this beyond a simple story of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow and hope. And, it’s funny, too.
A real gem. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0776-2
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
SEEN & HEARD
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